Ornamental cover for hearing aid earphones



July 26, 1949. M. B. DAVENPORT ORNAMENTAL COVER FOR HEARING AIDEARPHONES Filed Aug. 28, 1943 INVENTOR. L 5,3096;

1/] I v I flTfOR/VEy Patented July 26, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE:ORNAMENTAL oovca Foa HEARING esarnomss May B. Davenport, Mobile, Ala.

Application August 2 1943., Serial .No- 509,402

ordinary earrings would be noticed, this being due to their color forthe most part, but being also partly due to their position withreference to the ear. Usually such hearing aids are black and socontrast strongly with the flesh color of the ear. For this reason manypersons who should use hearing aids as a matter of comfort andconvenience and even as a matter of safety hesitate or refuse to usethem, and they also hesitate for the reason that the unthinking andignorant find them a cause of mirth, either by reason of theiroutstanding appearance or because they do not understand why such blackthings should be worn so conspicuously. As a general rule ladies objectto the appearance of these hearing aids, but it is also true that youngpersons of both sexes dislike to appear otherwise than normal, and thatmany such persons would use hearing aids if that could be done withoutsubjecting themselves to undesired attention and even to ridicule.

It is an object of my invention to provide a hearing aid that shall beara strong resemblance to an ordinary earring or clasp or car bob and soshall not attract attention such as is now drawn by the hearing aids incommon use, which are located otherwise than in the conventionalposition of an earring or the like, and which usually contrast stronglyin color with the flesh near them.

Another object of the invention is to provide an earpiece that shallinclude a receiver so formed that it can receive and hold a conventionalearring or clasp or the like, so that similar ornamental rings, clasps,etc., may actually be worn at each side of the face, and so that any oneof several pairs may be worn alternatively at the choice of the owner,all with the same earphone.

Another object of the invention is to provide earphones with a sort ofcamouflaging means adapted to be positioned at the lower ends of the earlobes, thus corresponding in location and appearance to earrings or thelike as ordinarily worn. Thus an earring may be worn at one side of theface and a hearing aid at the other, yet both may give the sameimpression to the casual observer.

Referring to the drawings, which are made a part of this application andin which similar parts are indicated by similar characters of reference:

Fig, 1 a three-quarter view of a womans face, illustrating the use of mydevice,

Fig. 2, a full face view, showing my device and also showing an earringin the other ear,

Fig. 3, a vertical section of one form of the invention,

Fig. 4, an elevation of another form of the invention, showing the samein position in the ear, but with a detachable part omitted to show themethod of connection of 'the parts,

Fig. 5, a rear view of the removable cap that is omitted from Fig. 4,

Fig. 6, an enlarged side view of parts shown in Figs. 4 and 5, showingone mode of attachment of the receiver to the mounting in the ear.

In the drawings, reference character Ill indicates a mounting membersuch as is made by taking a mold of the ear of the person who is to usethe hearing aid, this mold being so taken that the mounting reproducedtherefrom fits in the ear and is held in place by reason of its shape.This mounting is similar, in a general way, to those now in use, butinstead of being so formed as to hold the receiver for the telephone atabout the middle of the ear (thus increasing the conspicuousness of thehearing aid) in the case of my invention the extension reaches down tothe bottom of the ear lobe or approximately 50, thereby to support thereceiver at the usual position for an earring as customarily worn bymany persons. The mounting member is preferably made of moldablematerial that is colorless or is colored to imitate the color of theskin of the user. The usual sound-conducting passage l2 extends upwardand inward from the miniature telephone receiver [3 to the interior ofthe ear, said passage ending at the usual point with relation to themiddle ear. The shape of the mounting member varies, of course, with theshape of the ear in which it fits.

I have shown the receiver III in Fig. 3 as being attached to themounting member by screw threads H, but this connection may be made inany suitable or conventional manner, either permanently or detachably.Conventional wires [4' lead from the telephone in the receiver to a battery or transmitter (not shown). The receiver in this figure is shown ashaving secured thereto, as by means of cement, an ornamental cap orcover l5. The cover may be of any desired color, such as white, motherof pearl, etc.; in other words, it may resemble an earring or clasp orit mounting 10' carries the receiver l3 which is attached to themounting by means of a light spring ring or the like I! that engages inmatching grooves in the respective parts, and which is readilydetachable by the use of slight force. Here the cap or cover is attachedto the receiver [3' by means of a slot 20 having a narrow neck toreceive the neck of a hook-like T-shaped connector I9, said slot beingformed with a wider part to receive the crossbar of said T-shapedconnector. v It will readily be seen that the detachable connections ofFigs. 4 to 6 may be varied in many ways. Thus, a common form of earringhaving a resilient hook to fit back of and grip the ear lobe may besubstituted for the member shown at la, the shape of the slot 20, beingslightly changed in shape and proportions to receive such a hook. Ingeneral it Wil1 be evident that many variations may be made in thedevice of my invention by those skilled in the art, all withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention, and therefore I do not limitmyself to what is shown in the drawings and described in thespecification but only as set forth in the appended claims;

The term earring is used in the specification as a generic term toindicate ear ornaments attached to the lobe of the ear or adjacentthereto. Having thus fully described my said invention, what I claim is:7

1. A hearing aid comprising a mounting member adaptedfto fit in the earof the user, said member having a portion extending downward over theear lobe, a telephone receiver supported at the lower end of saidextension, an ornamental Icap or cover for said receiver, and a soundpassageway extending from the receiver to the ear canal.

2. A hearing aid as in claim 1, including quickly detachable meansconnecting said cover to the receiver.

MAY B. DAVENPORT.

REFERENCES CITED The following referenlces are of record inthe file ofthis patent: V

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,601,063 Frederick Sept. 28,1926 1,733,579 Coolbroth Oct. 29, 1929 1,753,817 Aber Apr. 8, 19301,852,130 Schier Apr, 5, 1932 1,893,474 Lieber Jan. 3, 1933 Williams May11, 1943

